City officials ponder public burden on private bridge

Dec. 18, 2013

Updated 1:07 p.m.

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Parents driving their children to Wood Canyon Elementary School in Aliso Viejo and people going to Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park use a privately owned bridge on AWMA Road over Aliso Creek as a shortcut from Alicia Parkway in Laguna Niguel. Public agencies have called the bridge's safety into question. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Students going to school in Aliso Viejo ride across a timber bridge that spans Aliso Creek on AWMA Road. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A proposal by Aliso Viejo resident Guy Elston would change traffic flow to one way on AWMA Road over Aliso Creek, heading toward Wood Canyon Elementary School. Drivers would leave the school area via Knollwood, heading to Wood Canyon Drive. COURTESY OF GUY ELSTON

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The Aliso Creek Bridge on AWMA Road was built in 1979 to get workers to and from a wastewater treatment plant that still operates alongside the creek. It is used by many cars carrying students to an elementary school and a charter school. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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More than 7,500 people per week travel across this bridge over Aliso Creek, according to a 2012 traffic study. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Parents driving their children to Wood Canyon Elementary School in Aliso Viejo and people going to Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park use a privately owned bridge on AWMA Road over Aliso Creek as a shortcut from Alicia Parkway in Laguna Niguel. Public agencies have called the bridge's safety into question. MARK RIGHTMIRE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

An old bridge that became more popular than its creators intended is stuck in limbo.

Aliso Viejo resident Guy Elston recently included what engineers have called the Aliso Creek Bridge in a plan he hatched to reduce traffic going to Wood Canyon Elementary School and the Community Roots Academy from Knollwood, a street that leads to the schools from Wood Canyon Drive to the west. Elston would prefer people get to the schools from Alicia Parkway in the east via the bridge along AWMA Road, then exit the school area via Knollwood.

When he presented his plan to the Aliso Viejo City Council last month, he included an idea to change the bridge from two-way traffic to one way, leading west toward the schools.

“Kids are walking back and forth (on Knollwood) and there's not enough traffic lanes to get the cars out of there,” Elston said. “It looks pretty dangerous to me.”

In another plea to reduce traffic, he asked the city to change no-parking signs near the elementary school to include pickup and drop-off times at the nearby charter school, so parked cars wouldn't congest the street as parents rush to pick up and drop off their children.

But Elston didn't know the bridge is considered in need of replacement to the point that Orange County and the local water agency recently extended an agreement that indemnifies both for legal entanglement related to potential damage if a vehicle were to fall over the side into Aliso Creek.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHORTCUT

After the council meeting, Aliso Viejo City Engineer and Public Works Director Shaun Pelletier told Elston the signs could be changed but the traffic flow can't.

Pelletier said the bridge, which many parents already use as a shortcut from Alicia Parkway, is “privately owned and was not constructed to carry additional traffic loading.” More than 7,500 people per week travel across it, according to a 2012 traffic study.

“Any increase in volume could result in the bridge needing to be closed, eliminating access to Knollwood” from the bridge, Pelletier said in an email.

He added that he would like a crossing guard extended to cover pickup and drop-off times at Community Roots Academy, but the city said that has to be part of discussions during its mid-year budget hearings, which usually occur in February.

PRIVATE BRIDGE, PUBLIC USE

The bridge, built in 1979, was originally built to get workers to and from a wastewater treatment plant that operates alongside Aliso Creek.

The private owner actually is a public agency: the South Orange County Wastewater Authority, which inherited the bridge when it formed in 2001 and took over responsibilities of the Aliso Watershed Management Agency, for which AWMA Road is named.

In May 2011, following a 2010 study by the wastewater authority, water officials restricted bridge traffic to one way. But the change created a public outcry because it complicated traffic for parents taking their kids to school, people accessing a nearby riding and hiking trail and those using the area as a path to Knollwood.

So water authorities made interim repairs and the bridge was returned to two-way traffic in May 2012 – but only after the county agreed to indemnify the water agency for claims arising from anyone who runs into trouble using the bridge. In exchange, the wastewater authority agreed to indemnify the county if any of its workers sued over a bridge mishap.

Also included in the agreement was the goal to “develop a long-term plan for the permanent repair and/or replacement” of the bridge. Last month, the county Board of Supervisors voted to extend the agreement to June 2014.

The bridge – about 80 feet long by 29 feet wide – was built with glue-laminated timber and concrete supports. With Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park, the bridge and AWMA Road became a popular route for some.

“There's been a lot of development down there, and people started using that road even though it is technically a private bridge and we're the only ones supposed be on it,” said Dave Seymour, interim general manager of the authority. “When we put the road in, we were the only ones out there. There was no reason for anybody to use that road. Now there are houses, a church, a school, and there's a lot of bicycle traffic.”

Edward Frondoso, a senior civil engineer with OC Public Works, said the county determined the bridge was safe to reopen to two-way traffic since interim repairs were made and the load limit was reduced to 8 tons.

“I know we can't replace it because we don't own it,” Frondoso said. “So unless there's some kind of transfer of ownership, we're very limited. We can't use tax dollars on a private bridge.”

Seymour wants the county to take over the bridge.

“Our goal is to get the county to take it over because they have some long-range plans for that area to do some expansion work within the park to open it up for public use,” Seymour said. “It makes more sense for them to be the lead agency on it.”

FUTURE UNCLEAR

Richard Adler, a real estate manager with OC Parks, said the county and the agency want more time to assess replacing the bridge.

“We wanted … to look into the various possibilities of how this is going to get resolved and who is going to pay for it,” Adler said.

The 2010 study recommended the bridge be replaced, citing traffic loads beyond the design standards, “signs of distress and weathering,” dried and cracked railings, a lack of traffic barriers and several “localized failures” where portions of the bridge had broken. Seymour said his agency installed new barriers, posted the weight limit and added new steel side supports.

The study estimated the cost of demolishing the bridge and installing a concrete replacement at $1.5 million. A wastewater authority presentation in 2012 estimated it at $2.5 million.

Meanwhile, Seymour said he drives the bridge every day and isn't worried much about its safety. But agencies have to be cautious, he said.

“The likelihood of something happening is probably nonexistent, but the potential liability is still there and we don't want our member agencies burdened with that unless the county's willing to step in and indemnify us,” Seymour said.

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